Chippy Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint Cabinet

August 23, 2016

I picked up this beautiful old cabinet from one of my vintage hunting grounds the other week. It was actually lovely and I was in two minds about painting it… sometimes things are fine as they are, but it was for me and was going to sit on top of a dark wood chest of drawers so I felt a contrast would be good. Inside the wood was worn to perfection and I removed the old curtain to reveal the lovely glass front. I’ve kept the fabric, it washed fine and I will use it on something else.. I never waste anything if possible !!

I wanted a Swedish Blue so I mixed up my own blend of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. The recipe was 2 scoops of Bergere, 1 scoop of Flow Blue and 3 scoops of Farmhouse White. I knew I wanted it to be chippy to show through some of that lovely wood patina so I simply wiped off the cobwebs with a damp cloth and painted away. I did one coat and as I was short on time that day, I left it overnight. When I came back to it in the morning the chipping had begun, yay!!

I did 2 more coats that day and it chipped like mad. Milk Paint chips when there is something on the surface of the piece that will act as a resist against the paint. Old wax finishes, oil or grease will usually result in chipping. Because you don’t always know what is on an old piece of furniture you often don’t know how milk paint will react. You can control things by doing some prep with a light sand and cleaning with Simple Green, then if you want chipping….but controlled chipping you can add your own wax in the places where you want the paint to resist. If you don’t want chipping add the bonding agent to each coat and you will get smooth coverage. For me though the thing I love the most is just painting it on and seeing what it does. In this case it chipped to perfection, it looks so authentically old!. I sanded all over with a very fine grit sanding sponge and went all over the edges too. I used Hemp oil to seal it. I could have used the Tough Coat if I wanted to preserve it as it is and for it to not chip any more, but I am happy to let it do its thing.